Survey Shows Gen-Z Not Listening To Radio

[Deus Ex Machiato]

Good Lord. What does any of this history or old-timer preferences have to do with Gen-Z not listening to the radio?

I admit, I've skipped a couple pages of this back and forth, but would like to answer this with a quote on the first page from the esteemed Michael Hagerty:

Attempting to forestall the inevitable misunderstandings: Gen Z are currently 13 to 27 years old. That means the youngest third of the generation isn't in a salable demo.

The problem is, in five years, the entire generation will be 18-32 and make up the overhwelming majority of the 18-34 demo.

There it is. Back when I was doing CHR, it was understood that you weren't just playing what the 18-34 demo wanted, but also serving those who would become a part of that demo. No, you couldn't sell your massive teen numbers that the night jock garnered by name-checking high schools every night or hosting teen night at some venue, but in five years, those kids would be in the demo and be "salable." I'm sure we've all had meetings where the LSM complains that the station is catering to teens too much at night because "they're not going to buy a car from one of my clients," but we understood that unless we turned them into listeners then, we'd have a much harder time winning them over 5 or 10 years down the road.

And that was back before Spotify and You Tube.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...the Gen Z people I work with at my tech job have no use for radio. When I mention what I used to do, I get something like "cool, my mom/dad used to listen to the radio."

As Mr. Hagerty said, that entire generation will make up the overwhelming majority of the 18-34 demo, and not only are they already gone, the generation that follows them also is less likely to have any use for radio.

 

[Kent]

There it is. Back when I was doing CHR, it was understood that you weren't just playing what the 18-34 demo wanted, but also serving those who would become a part of that demo. No, you couldn't sell your massive teen numbers that the night jock garnered by name-checking high schools every night or hosting teen night at some venue, but in five years, those kids would be in the demo and be "salable." I'm sure we've all had meetings where the LSM complains that the station is catering to teens too much at night because "they're not going to buy a car from one of my clients," but we understood that unless we turned them into listeners then, we'd have a much harder time winning them over 5 or 10 years down the road.

I've been on three CHR's (two at the same time) in 2001-02 and 2004-05, and that was not my experience at any of them. We were routinely instructed not to put kids on-air and not to interact with them much, especially before 7:00 PM. Of course, we still had kids listening, but we didn't program to them. There was never any future planning beyond the next book. None of the CHR's where I worked were owned by large conglomerates (at least not at the time I worked for them, anyway). One had local owners, and the other two were part of a regional company based about a three hour drive away.

Didn't have that experience listening to CHR as a teen either. I remember hearing CHR/Top-40 stations posted their surveys in the high schools in the 70's and early 80's, but, by the time I started high school in 1989, they were long gone.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I remember 61 Big WAYS mentioning my high school on the radio in the 70s. That would have been the only reason for me to listen to that station. Also, their DJs played my junior high teachers in basketball.

 

[Greg Goodfellow]

Can't forget nor remember, because many of us weren't even born yet.

Why, because many of them are black?

Watched an interesting PBS documentary the other day about Little Richard: Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll - Stream the documentary now | American Masters | PBS

Not only Little Richard, but it showed the terrible racism and exploitation of black or gay musical artists, and how white culture exploited not just their music, but treated them like garbage. So, according to you, those were the days?

I had heard that black artists were cheated at every turn, and had to wait until white artists were finished recording until they got their turn. Also, Freda Payne lost money on her hit “Band Of Gold.” Finally, someone such as Pat Boone singing Tutti-Frutti” is definitely a crime against humanity, and he is but one of many examples of cashing in at the expense of others. He and they took advantage of the times.

 

[TheBigA]

Here's the most recent Edison survey about Gen Z radio listening.

How Does Gen Z Listen To In-Car Audio? The Answers May Surprise You.

Everyone knows you need a crowbar to separate young adults from their smartphones. But a funny thing happens when under-35s put down their phones and hit the open road. Research

www.insideradio.com

 

[Kelly A]

I had heard that black artists were cheated at every turn, and had to wait until white artists were finished recording until they got their turn. Also, Freda Payne lost money on her hit “Band Of Gold.” Finally, someone such as Pat Boone singing Tutti-Frutti” is definitely a crime against humanity, and he is but one of many examples of cashing in at the expense of others. He and they took advantage of the times.

They really did. Pat Boone was one of the worst offenders, but nobody would call him on it at the risk lose what little they'd worked for, or the white establishment would just dismiss any complaints. Besides, Pat is a good white Christian. He would never cheat anyone! Yeah, right.
Radio actually helped get African American artists into the spotlight, but the problem was that even once in the spotlight, they were neglected and ripped off at every turn by the white-run record companies.

 

[michael hagerty]

Here's the most recent Edison survey about Gen Z radio listening.

How Does Gen Z Listen To In-Car Audio? The Answers May Surprise You.

Everyone knows you need a crowbar to separate young adults from their smartphones. But a funny thing happens when under-35s put down their phones and hit the open road. Research

www.insideradio.com

@Don CT should absolutely read that.

There's no question younger listeners listen to radio less than before, but streaming has not completely replaced it.

A reality to keep in mind for anyone who does take the time to read it and look at the numbers: They use two demographics, 13+ and 13-24. It may seem counterintuitive that broadcast listening is higher among 13-24 than it is 13+, but a larger percentage of the 13-24 demographic does not drive yet. They may or may not be in control of the audio in the vehicle.

 

[Kelly A]

Here's the most recent Edison survey about Gen Z radio listening.

Even this report, which is skewed to promote radio; conclusions like: "Back in 2015, only 9% of 13+ audio listening time by device in car went to mobile devices and 71% to an AM/FM receiver. In 2022, the split was 21% mobile, 58% AM/FM receiver. The shift to mobile is far more pronounced among Americans 13-24. In 2015, mobile devices captured 23% of their in-car pie. It rose to 44% in 2022. Still, AM/FM receiver had the edge, clocking in at 47%."
It doesn't take much reading between the lines to see that between 2019 (the beginning of the pandemic) and 2022, in-car radio listening flipped to streaming (mobile)to 44% in 2022. It's a stretch to include data from 2015, because apps like Apple Carplay had just been introduced. Also because of the demographic, undoubtedly most of the 13-24 were listening because their parents were driving. Not necessarily because they chose to listen to the radio.

 

[TheBigA]

There's no question younger listeners listen to radio less than before, but streaming has not completely replaced it.

The issue that stands out to me is the device situation. Gen Z believes the only way to hear AM/FM is in their car. They'd probably listen more, but the car is the only place that has an AM/FM radio. When they listen outside of the car, it's streaming on their phone.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I had heard that black artists were cheated at every turn, and had to wait until white artists were finished recording until they got their turn. Also, Freda Payne lost money on her hit “Band Of Gold.” Finally, someone such as Pat Boone singing Tutti-Frutti” is definitely a crime against humanity, and he is but one of many examples of cashing in at the expense of others. He and they took advantage of the times.

I just heard "Hit the Road, Jack" on Serenade Radio (online) performed by The Anita Kerr Singers.

There are Black artists (Nat is in the recently played list) but not in this case.

 

[michael hagerty]

The issue that stands out to me is the device situation. Gen Z believes the only way to hear AM/FM is in their car.

It may well be. I had to stop and think about it, but there are two radios in my house---an old component audio system that has been so long unused in our built-in bookshelf that my mind just reads it as decor, and the AM/FM clock radio on my wife's bedside table that's designed so that you see the clock but the volume/tuning/etc. is tucked away on the side. She also never uses it as a radio.

I'll bet you neither of our daughters, ages 24 and 28, who grew up in that house, knows either of those things is a working radio.

 

[michael hagerty]

I just heard "Hit the Road, Jack" on Serenade Radio (online) performed by The Anita Kerr Singers.

Next up:

 

[Kelly A]

I just heard "Hit the Road, Jack" on Serenade Radio (online) performed by The Anita Kerr Singers.

There are Black artists (Nat is in the recently played list) but not in this case.

Good Lord, do you even read other posts, or do your observations just come flowing out untethered to anything being discussed?

 

[tall_guy1]

It would appear Gen Z has their own music which does not make it on the radio, like the stuff from Tiktok. Bad Bunny sems to have a large amount of streams but little airplay and I looked up a few of the songs from the Tiktok charts. The music on those sites does not appeal to me at all, so it is fine, but likely only appeals to a very young demographic.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Good Lord, do you even read other posts, or do your observations just come flowing out untethered to anything being discussed?

That’s rhetorical, right?

 

[Kelly A]

That’s rhetorical, right?

Just curious if he knows that his comments don't seem to relate to much in the topic.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Funny, I was recalling a corporate board meeting that I was part of back in 1998, about the time we were in the throws of rolling out the first TV Centralcasting(tm) model, with the cost savings and efficiencies baked-in. One of the topics being bantered around was how we leverage further technology advances to either cut operational costs or create a new viewing/listening model using the public Internet. One of the senior board members turned to me and asked; what do I think? Caught off guard, I replied that I thought the next big model would probably involve VOD, or Video On Demand, and potentially listening on demand, rather than radio and TV the way it is. At the time Mark Cuban in the same building was fooling around with a type of early streaming via Broadcast.com. After making the statement, I noted several board members were jotting down notes with my boss looking at me like I had three heads. Later he gave me the suggestion that in the future, I shouldn't stray off the topic of how our linear radio and TV can save money through tech, and not ever again bring up the thought of driving the audience away from TV and radio to the Internet.

And there you get a great example of how incumbents get their heads handed to them by upstarts who aren't vested in the existing models and who can think beyond them because they don't have an existing business to protect.

 

[davideduardo]

. Bad Bunny sems to have a large amount of streams but little airplay...

He is the most played artist on OTA radio throughout Latin America and on US Hispanic radio.

 

[tall_guy1]

He is the most played artist on OTA radio throughout Latin America and on US Hispanic radio.

That makes sense. There are some other songs I looked through the Tiktok chart and played which sound on the youthful side (18-24) of CHR, but could also be due to licensing they don't air.

 

[landtuna]

Can't forget nor remember, because many of us weren't even born yet.

That is why you need to study history. History comes from old folks.

Why, because many of them are black?

Still not reading/understanding eh? As I've pointed out before I grew up with a very large number of Black musicians and they remain among my favorites. Why would I exclude Black musicians now because they're Black? No, I've already given you the reasons.

Watched an interesting PBS documentary the other day about Little Richard: Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll - Stream the documentary now | American Masters | PBS

Not only Little Richard, but it showed the terrible racism and exploitation of black or gay musical artists, and how white culture exploited not just their music, but treated them like garbage. So, according to you, those were the days?

Back in those days I was too young to appreciate the dirty business that the Rock/Pop music industry is....just like you and possibly everyone else on this Board. To me back then the performers, whether Black, white, brown or yellow, looked just the same. They had talent, very nice incomes and immense popularity; the envy of everyone. It wasn't until I joined the Navy that I realized what racism was. My first boot camp company was full of Southerners and kids from the Chicago area. I did have one good Black friend in middle and high school but he never said anything to me until we met again at our 30th reunion.

I was never a big fan of Little Richard or his type of wild Be-bop so I will pass on the PBS suggestion. In my long life I've seen and heard about all I can take of that sort of thing without getting flaming angry. I never saw a need for racism and still don't although I do realize why cultures clash (reference my earlier opinion of rap).